1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to electrical contacts and more specifically, the present invention relates to square radio frequency (RF) electrical contacts having a center conductor, an insulating layer, and a conductive sheath having substantially square cross-sections.
2. Description of the Related Art
Electrical contacts are used to place electrical devices, such as printed circuit boards, in communication with one another. An electrical contact includes two portions, one portion of which is arranged to be connected to a first electrical device and the second portion of which is arranged to be connected to a second electrical device to be put into communication with the first device. To connect the two devices, the two portions of the electrical contacts are mated together.
One conventional type of RF electrical contact is a coaxial contact. A coaxial contact has a substantially cylindrical cross-section, and includes a center conductor, an insulating layer, and a conductive sheath. One problem with conventional coaxial contacts is that, due to the substantially cylindrical cross-sectional shape, conventional coaxial contacts must be screw machined, which is an expensive, time consuming process and which requires very tight manufacturing tolerances. Thus, conventional coaxial contacts are relatively expensive to manufacture.
Further, screw machined RF connectors have a low cycle life due to high normal force and machined mating surfaces. In addition, screw machined RF connectors have virtually no misalignment allowance because they are circular and the contact beams do not allow for the mating connectors to be out of location.